


The Stablehand

by JacksonCalico



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, Medieval AU, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, lmao what's plot, peasant! yang, princess! blake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:29:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21517486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JacksonCalico/pseuds/JacksonCalico
Summary: Yang's a peasant, Blake's a princess.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 7
Kudos: 167





	The Stablehand

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't spend too much time on this and was kind of in the mood to write more medieval bees. 
> 
> This will definitely not be the last time I write medieval bees. 
> 
> I have zero self control.
> 
> This is honestly just a little thing I did in between writing a much bigger medieval bees au

Blake Belladonna was the princess of Menagerie.

The only daughter of the ruling monarchs, Kali and Ghira Belladonna, and the future leader of the kingdom.

Everyone knew who she was, there was not a soul in Menagerie who wouldn’t be able to recognize the beautiful faunus woman if they saw her. 

Not that anyone outside the palace saw her very often. She was an enigma, even to her own people.

The young princess was rarely seen, but that didn’t make her any less known.

Blake Belladonna was the princess of Menagerie, even if her people only saw her once in a blue moon.

-

Yang Xiao Long was a peasant.

She was the daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long, a farmer out in the Menagerie countryside, known for his ability to breed and raise horses. 

In Kuo Kuana, the Menagerie capital, very few people knew who she was. Very few people gave the tall, blond woman with the metal arm a second glance if they saw her in the street, but she didn’t mind. She wasn’t here to be known by the people, she was here for work, and work she did.

Yang was a new stablehand at the royal palace, one of the sole caretakers of the dozen horses in the palace stables. 

Her job was to take care of horses, but that wasn’t different from her job back home in Patch.

Yang Xiao Long was a peasant working for the royal family. 

-

It wasn’t uncommon for Blake to go down to the stables and see the horses.

She’d been doing it for years, ever since she was a small child, so no one really batted an eye when the princess appeared down in the stables.  
Her favorite horse was a black mare, a horse she had lovingly named Gambol Shroud upon the mare’s arrival to the palace.

Gambol’s primary caretaker had been an older woman named Maria. Though blind, the Belladonna family had held onto Maria to take care of the horses in the stable for years. 

Until recently.

Maria had officially retired from the stables a couple of days ago, and her replacement wasn’t due for a few more days.

But when Blake pulled the stable door open, a tall blond woman stood in Gambol’s stall, softly patting the horse on the nose. 

It appears that the Belladonna family’s newest stablehand was already here.

-

“Hello?”

Yang jolted slightly, head whipping around at the sound of a voice behind her. 

A faunus woman with short, black hair was standing there, right cat ear flicking slightly. Her outfit was simple, dark boots, black pants, buttoned-up white shirt. Despite her plain and unornamented outfit, she radiated power and confidence, and Yang felt slightly weak at the knees.

Yang didn’t have to look at the woman long before she knew who it was.

Princess Blake Belladonna. 

“H-Hi.” Yang stuttered nervously, running her hand through her hair. 

The princess was watching her curiously, a small smile on her face. “You’re the new stablehand, right?”

Yang swallowed hard, nodding her head. “Y-yeah.” After a moment’s hesitation, she stuck her right hand out. “I’m Yang. Yang Xiao Long.”

The princess’s smile broadened, and she accepted Yang’s hand, not even flinching as her skin came into contact with cool metal. “Blake.”

And that was the first time Yang met Blake Belladonna.

-

Yang didn’t have a lot of time to ponder why the princess was in the stables.

As it turned out, Blake apparently spent a lot of time there, with the horses, which meant Yang was probably going to be seeing her very often.

So far, Blake had been rather pleasant company, something Yang found comfort in knowing, seeing as the princess was probably going to be a prevalent figure in her work life, even if Yang couldn’t help but be continuously enraptured by her beauty.

Distraction or not, Blake was shaping up to be a rather welcomed visitor. 

-

Blake liked Yang.

She found the blond charming, and dorky, and a thousand other different other adjectives that could just be narrowed down to cute. 

Yang was cute, and Blake liked her.

Yang didn’t seem to care that Blake was a princess, which she could appreciate. It gave her the opportunity to form an actual friendship with someone, without having to fear that she was being used for something.

Yang was cute, and honest, and Blake liked that about her.

-

The longer Yang worked in the stables, and the more often Blake visited, the closer they became.

It was an easy transition, from strangers to friends, one that seemed to happen overnight. It was a quick and easy friendship. 

“Did you know Maria?”

Yang looked up from brushing Gambol, briefly making eye contact with Blake, shrugging.

“Kind of. She’s some distant relative of my sister’s, she asked me to take her place when she retired.” Yang said, returning to her work.

“Sister?” Blake asked curiously, leaning over the edge of the stall door. 

“Yeah, I’ve got a little sister, Ruby. She still lives back home with dad, said she come visit me as soon as she could.”

Blake smiled. “Do you think I could meet her?” 

Yang looked back over at her, bearing a small smile of her own. “Of course.”

Now Ruby definitely has to visit. 

-

Yang didn’t even bat an eye when Blake entered the stables, so used to the princess’s constant presence that her comings and goings didn’t even bother her. 

Yang glanced up from hanging up stable equipment as Blake approached, smiling at the faunus. 

Blake paused beside her, looking at the riding gear curiously, ears flicking slightly on top of her head. 

“You wanna ride?”

Blake’s gaze shifts over to Yang, ears pulling back slightly, cheeks flushing. “I don’t know how.” 

Yang smiled nervously. “I can teach you.” She said, her own cheeks turning slightly pink.

“Really?” Blake asked hopefully, a smile on her face.

“Y-Yeah. Dad taught me how to ride when I was younger. I can show you how.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

-

Sometimes Blake brings books to read in the stables. 

Yang always warns her that they might get destroyed, the stables are often a dirty place after all, but Blake doesn’t seem to care.

“I don’t mind if it gets ruined.” 

Yang gives her an incredulous look, a small smirk on her face. “Really? That doesn’t sound like something the Blake I know would say.”

“You don’t know,” Blake doesn’t look up at her, her eyes focused on her book, but Yang knows she has her undivided attention. “That maybe I like to live life a little dangerously every once and awhile.”

“Sure you do.”

Blake drops her book onto her laps, finally looking at Yang and her shit-eating grin. 

“Shut up Xiao Long.”

“Whatever you say, Belladonna.”

-

There are some days where Blake can’t stay at the stables as long as she wants to.

She had originally been going down to the stables to see the horses, but the longer she knows Yang, the more realizes she’s been going down there for the peasant girl who takes care of them and not the horses themselves. 

Yang was her friend, and she likes spending time with her friend, but Blake socializing with people her age is not something royal advisors have at the top of their priority list. 

“Leaving already?”

Blake sighed, nodding. “There’s a council meeting I have to attend.”

“You don’t sound too excited.” Yang said, leaning against the wall next to her.

“That’s because I’m not.” Blake looked over at Yang, locking eyes with her.

“Much rather spend time here with me.” Yang jokes, lilac eyes full of mischief.

Blake smiled easily, softly. “Yes, actually.” 

Blake’s smile widens at the blush that tints Yang’s cheeks. She’s so easy to tease. 

Distantly, Blake hears the sound of the clock tower ringing, and knows it’s time to leave.

“That’s my cue.” Blake pushes up and off the wall, turning to face Yang. She hesitates for a moment, before reaching up and draping her arms over Yang’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

She can feel Yang’s breath hitch briefly, but the blond doesn’t pull away, wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist and holding her closer. 

“I’ll see you later?” Yang whispers in her ear.

“Yeah...yeah of course.” Blake’s heart is beating fast in her chest, and she would have stayed there forever if she didn’t have somewhere ‘important’ to be.

When Blake leaves, waving at a breathless Yang, there’s a wide smile on her face, a smile that’s still on her face when she enters the council room, and remains there throughout the entire meeting. 

-

Ruby comes to visit Kuo Kuana a couple of weeks later.

She insists on coming to the stables with Yang, and Yang can’t bring herself to argue with her sister this early in the morning.

So Ruby comes to the stables with Yang, despite the obvious breach in palace security. 

Ruby had always been good with horses, so Yang wasn’t worried about her messing with anything, but Yang was a little worried about her sister possibly meeting Blake. 

Yang didn’t understand why she was nervous about Blake meeting her family. 

Ruby’s boundless energy could be overwhelming at times, and Yang refused to let the stables be a place Blake felt uncomfortable in even for a second.

Yang immediately notices the confusion in Blake’s eyes when she enters the stables and sees that Yang isn’t alone. Ruby, on the other hand, is too distracted by the horses to realize that there’s someone new in the room. 

“Hey Blake.” 

“Hey Yang,” Blake says, walking over to stand next to Yang, watching Ruby carefully. “Who’s this?”

“This is Ruby, my sister. She insisted on coming with me today.” Yang can’t help the grin on her face as she looks at her oblivious sister. “Hey Ruby!”

The shorter girl finally looks up, ultimately noticing the newcomer in the room for the first time. 

The next ten minutes are full of rushed words and lively gestures, all courtesy of Ruby, eager to get to know Yang’s new friend.

Blake doesn’t seem to mind the younger girl’s excitement all that much, smiling as Ruby continues to ramble on and on about who knows what.

Yang’s heart is beating fast in her chest as she watches the two, ecstatic to see her sister and Blake getting along.

Then all of a sudden, everything makes sense.

Why she was nervous, why she wants Ruby to like Blake, why she enjoys spending time with Blake, why she feels the way she does when Blake’s around. 

Yang has a crush on Blake. She likes Blake. She has a crush on the princess. 

Shit. 

-

“Wait a minute…”

Yang looks over at Ruby. It was getting pretty late, and Blake had just left for the day.

“What?” Yang dusted her hands off, removing her gloves and shoving them in her pocket.

“Blake’s the princess…” Ruby whispered, looking like her entire world had just been flipped upside down.

“You’re just realizing that now?” Yang chuckled, a smirk on her face.

“You’re friends with the princess ...you know the princess...”

It was going to be a long night. 

-

A couple of more weeks pass by, and Yang finally gets the chance to teach Blake how to ride a horse.

“You ready?” Yang asked, grip firm on Gambol’s rein. 

Blake nodded nervously, approaching Yang and the horse carefully. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Yang smiled reassuringly, patting Gambol softly on the nose. “You’ll be fine. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Yang turns out to be a really good teacher, and whether that’s because Blake was biased or because she’s actually a good teacher, no one will ever know. 

-

In return for Yang teaching Blake how to ride a horse, Blake teaches Yang how to dance.

“It’s no that hard.” Blake says reaching her hand out to the blond.

Yang accepts her hand with a nervous smile. “Easy for you to say. You’ve probably been doing this your whole life.”

Blake guides Yang’s left hand to her hip, reaching up to place her hand on Yang’s shoulders, holding onto Yang’s metal hand gently.

Yang picks it up fairly easily, and beside the occasional stumbling moment and accidentally stepped on foot, it’s one of the best dances she’s ever shared with someone.

Blake rests her head on Yang’s shoulder, relaxing against the blond’s muscular form. Yang’s arm shifts from gripping her hip to wrap fully around her waist, pulling her closer, resting her head on top of Blake’s.

It’s the softest, most loving dance Blake’s ever experienced, and she loves every second of it.

-

“I want to go to the city.”

Yang looked up at Blake, shock evident on the bond’s face. “You want to go to the city?”

Blake nodded, face determined, picking at the straw bed the two were sitting on. “I’ve never been outside the palace. I think it’s time I finally leave and go to the city, even if it’s just for a day.”

A small smile appeared on the faunus’s lips as she looked down at Yang. “And I want you to come with me.”

Yang sat up, hope in her eyes despite the look of disbelief on her face. “You want me to come with?”

Blake cautiously reached out and grabbed Yang’s hand. “Of course I do. There’s no one else I’d rather spend my time with.”

Yang’s blush is extraordinarily prominent as she stares at Blake, nervous smile on her face. 

Blake squeezed Yang’s hand gently. “Do you want to come with me?”

Blake had to stop herself from laughing at Yang’s vigorous nodding, shifting her hand to intertwine her fingers with Yang’s own.

“Then I guess it’s a date.”

-

Sneaking Blake out of the palace a couple of days later, was surprisingly simple.

Blake had already figured out an alibi and excuse to her whereabouts so no one would come looking for her. The only problem now, was getting her out of the palace.

Every entrance in the palace was guarded, and every person working in the palace recognized Blake. 

Every entrance was guarded, except for the back exit of the stables.

It was how Yang came to and from work every day. For months, she had used that exit, and had never seen a guard stationed there during the day, only late at night and very early morning.

Getting Blake out of the palace was easy.

Getting her back in, would be the hard part. 

-

The city was beautiful.

Blake had spent the past twenty years of her life inside the palace walls, her only view of the city tiled roofs, only visible from windows in the upper levels of her home.

But now Blake was free to walk the streets, experience what it was like outside stony walls for the first time in her life, her only companion a beautiful blond woman dead set on making Blake’s time in the city memorable. 

And it was. 

Walking through her city, partaking in the sights, hand tightly clasped with Yang’s, was definitely something Blake was never going to forget. 

She didn’t want that day to end, but she knew it had too, and it would end with herself back inside her room, in her cold empty room, void of the perfect woman she was quickly falling in love with.

Blake spent her first day outside the palace, with Yang, the gorgeous peasant girl who had stolen her heart.

-

They’re late returning to the palace that night.

They make it into the stables just as the night guard is rounding the corner, barely escaping his line of sight. 

Blake leans heavily into Yang’s shoulder, smile wide, giggling quietly. Yang has an arm slung over her shoulders, holding the princess close, a broad grin on her face.

“That was a close one.” Yang laughs quietly, nuzzling Blake’s hair.

Blake faintly hears the sound of the clock tower chiming, signaling her curfew. 

Yang hears it too, reluctantly pulling away from Blake. “See you tomorrow?” 

Blake steps back into Yang’s space, leaning up to press a kiss to Yang’s cheek. 

“Yeah.” She whispers when she pulls back, face tinted pink, giddy smile on her face. “See you tomorrow.”

-

When they see each other again, early the next morning, Yang kisses Blake on the cheek.

They hadn’t even said hello to each other yet. Yang had immediately leaned down, and pressed a quick kiss to Blake’s cheek.

“Have you been waiting all morning to do that?” Blake asked as Yang pulled away, face flushed red.

Yang rubs the back of her neck nervously. “Kind of.”

“Lucky you,” Blake said, reaching up to grasp the collar of Yang’s shirt, throwing subtly out the window. “Because I’ve been waiting to do this for weeks.”

Blake kisses Yang.

Blake grins into the kiss as Yang’s arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. 

Yang’s face is bright crimson when they pull apart, but they’re wearing matching smiles, arms still wrapped tightly around each other. 

“Smooth one Belladonna.” Yang chuckles, brushing her nose against Blake’s. 

Blake laughs, running her hands through soft, blond hair. “Someone had to do it, and it obviously wasn’t going to be you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

Blake silences her with kisses, a proposition both of them could get behind. 

“You’re lucky I love, princess.”

Blake hummed, leaning her head onto Yang’s shoulder, smiling when she felt Yang press a kiss to her hair.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> anyways medieval bees rights
> 
> Twitter : JacksonCalico  
> Tumblr : calicojackson576


End file.
